Front Row; A Fashion Tale, Interrupted

By Eric Wilson

Published: July 20, 2006

WHEN Olivier Theyskens took charge of Rochas in 2003, he began telling a story about fashion in seasonal installments, a studiously technical twist of lining here, a new layering of lace there, the chapters followed intently by people who care about clothes, much like J. K. Rowling addicts look for meaning in the pages of Harry Potter. Like the writer, Mr. Theyskens seemed to have his ultimate destination in mind, as he told a reporter at the start: ''I've got a clear idea in my head how the development should proceed. Each new step is a brick. We're laying a foundation for the future.''

Perhaps because Mr. Theyskens had promised so much at Rochas, the decision announced this week by its parent company, Procter & Gamble, to close the fashion house was especially disappointing, even though there is little doubt among Mr. Theyskens's supporters that he will quickly return with another venture.

''I have no doubt he will have many suitors,'' Anna Wintour, the Vogue editor, said. Still it is hard to shake the feeling that a new job will change the course of his design once he is removed from the context of Rochas. Before he established his signature romantic look there, Mr. Theyskens's designs were often categorized under that less universally pleasing heading of Goth.

There is plenty of precedent for an admired designer to be restrained by a corporate parent unwilling to finance the creative fancies of mousseline de soie, though few can match the emotional response to Mr. Theyskens; perhaps only when Azzedine Ala?closed his SoHo store in 1991 were fashion editors similarly brought to tears.

Julie Gilhart, the fashion director at Barneys New York, said the impact of Mr. Theyskens's departure at Rochas will be deeply felt by the store's customers. ''I have no doubt they will follow him wherever he goes,'' she said.

Mr. Theyskens could find a backer to revive a collection under his name, which, before his appointment at Rochas, had failed financially. Or he could be hired to design for any number of houses. There are even some openings -- at Chlo?for example, where another big star, Phoebe Philo, exited this year -- and potentially at other houses headed by weak or aging designers.

Nicolas Fronti?, a spokesman for the designer, said yesterday that Mr. Theyskens had not yet considered any plans.

Photos: CHANGE AHEAD -- Olivier Theyskens in 2005. (Photo by Joe Fornabaio for The New York Times); BY THEYSKENS -- For fall 2006. (Photo by Jean-Luce Huré for The New York Times)